Showing posts with label Fairy Tales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fairy Tales. Show all posts

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Review: The Grumpface by B.C.R. Fegan


THE GRUMPFACE
by B.C.R. Fegan
Illustrated by D. Frongia
TaleBlade
Picture Book/Fairy Tale
ages 4+
32 pages




The Grumpface is a poetic fairy-tale that tells the story of Dan, an inventor who ventures into a forest looking for a rose. Instead he finds the mysterious Grumpface who threatens to hold him captive unless he passes some difficult challenges. What follows is a humorous adventure that neither Dan nor the Grumpface could have anticipated.

The Grumpface is a tale in the spirit of any grand adventure. It is about a clumsy young inventor's quest for love and the challenges he must face to find it. It is also a tale of bravery, absurdity and happiness, and the power of these qualities over negativity and sheer grumpiness.

Every parent will be acquainted with their own little 'grumpface' now and then. This story stands as a small piece of hope - that no matter how ingrained the grump, there will always remain in every one of us a smile or a laugh just waiting to come out.



MY TIDBITS

With the whirl of a fairy tale, this book pits the grumpiest of grumps against a man that just might make him giggle.

Grumpface was once a normal man. . .or so they say. He was so grumpy that he was placed under a curse. Whenever travelers run across him, they are taken captive and must complete one of three tasks to gain their freedom again. But when a very clumsy traveler happens across, a strange end awaits Grumpface.

I love the cover on this one and the illustrations of Grumpface. His trolly glare hits hard, making it clear just how grumpy this guy is. The illustrations in general are bright and bold, and bring the story across nicely. The text is rhymed and sits alongside the illustrations to create an easy read aloud. Young listeners will quickly understand what's going on and sink into the tale. The message is clear as Grumpface starts to smirk, although the humor isn't exaggerated and remains, in most cases, more mild.

The fairy tale brings a little adventure, a little humor and a clear message. Children ages 4 and up are a fitting audience for this one.





And here he is. . .

BCR Fegan is an Australian author who has written a number of fairy tales and fantasies for children and young adults. He is inspired by stories that resonate deeply with our desire for adventure, yearning for magic and search for meaning.







Saturday, February 13, 2016

Happy Book Birthday, Twisted Fairy Tales!


Twisted Fairy Tale: An Anthology
Authors-Bethany Lopez, Elizabeth Sharp, Erin Danzer, Heather Marie Adkins, J. Laslie, Jill Cooper, K. Laslie, Magan Vernon, Susan Burdorf, Victoria Escobar
Genre- Fairy Tales

These aren’t the fairy tales you grew up with. New twists reimagine the classics to all sorts of places you’d never expect. This anthology was written solely for the purpose of raising money for the DM Currier Foundation for Peripartum Cardiomyopathy Research. For more information, you can visit savethemamas.org.

To stop a zombie plague, Snow White will need to kill the evil Queen before the last apple falls.

When Veronica Chapman falls into a coma in a horrific car accident, Trigg Chapman has the second chance to rekindle their rocky romance once upon a dream.

A princess cursed, a blind man kidnapped, and The Beast who threatens their happiness.

Aria inherited a century-long battle among the merfolk nations along with the crown, but a tenacious human looking for restitution could change everything.

A sapling of a dying magical tree desires revenge before the flames turn to love and grant Pinocchia her one wish—to be a real girl.

A princess becomes a pauper, but then must fight to save her kingdom.

Leukemia may have stolen Rapunzel's hair but not her dreams.

When Grandma becomes the latest victim in a string of murders, the wolf just might have to be the hero.

Rumpelstilstkin is not the only criminal in the kingdom.

At the stroke of midnight the spell will break, but there's no proof that it's true love.


    


Thursday, January 7, 2016

Excerpt: Blood, Milk & Chocolate by Cameron Jace with Giveaway



Blood, Milk & Chocolate 

 Part 2 
by Cameron Jace
(The Grimm Diaries, #4)
Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairy Tales
227 pages






Carmilla Karnstein’s journey through the Seven Seas, trying to find the Tower of Tales and meet Lady Shallot so she can help her and Angel to escape from Night Von Sorrow’s wrath. Lady Shallot finds them an island on the back of whale. They call it Sorrow and begin a journey of most heart wrenching secrets. What and where Sorrow really is. Who the Lost Seven are. And most of all who Carmilla and her new born daughter really are.
In the fourth installments of this epic tale, nothing is like it seems, some of the favorite character dies, and the thin line between good and evil blurs even more.
\


EXCERPT

Life in the Seven Seas didn’t promise a happily ever after for Angel and me. Sailing in our small boat, I didn’t know what was worse. The nights or the days.
The days were gloomy. Looms of mist surmounted our boat, and we could hardly see the horizon. Angel liked to call it the sea’s edge, as if there was an imaginary waterfall at the end where all ship’s fell off into oblivion. The apple trader I fell in love with surely had a dark imagination.
The nights in the Seven Seas were the embodiment of scare. The fear of the unknown. Because we still couldn’t see ahead. The hope of finding the Tale of Towers and meeting Lady Shallot to help us escape Night Von Sorrow were diminishing tide by tide. The Seven Seas were a slow death. Day after day, I began to realize we may have fooled ourselves, thinking we could really escape and find a place we could call our home.
And there was more.
By day we sometimes saw other ships looming beyond the mist which draped like curtains before our eyes. The mist blurred our destinations. And the thing we thought we glimpsed behind may have been illusions.
“Do you see them, Angel.” I said.
“See what?”
“The ships looming behind the mist. The silhouettes of sailors. Their red eyes.”
“I see nothing, Carmilla. You’re imaging things. The sea does that sometimes.”
I turned back to him. He was standing at the farther side of the boat, trying to catch some fish. He had been like that since I’d sold my soul to fate. Nothing mattered to him but food.
Angel spend half of the days catching an incredible amount of fish. To me, the fish saved me from starving. But to Angel, the fish he caught meant nothing but blood.
I had seen him ripg a large fish with his teeth and sucking out the its red guts with insatiable hunger. He had to drink fast before its blood clotted. One after the other. Someday when he couldn’t catch the fish, he jumped into the water, disappeared for hours and then reappeared with a big fish between his teeth.
“You breath under water?” I remember asking.
“I guess so,” He didn’t even care that he began acquiring incredible vampire powers. “I can only do it when I am really hungry.”
We’d sit next to each other. I ate fish. He drank its insides. The rest of the day he’d sleep, tired of hunting for blood. This wasn’t the love stories I had imagined when I first met him.
But I wasn’t surprised. I, Carmilla Karnstein, was bound for sorrow by Captain Hook, Fate of the Seven Seas. And Angel was risking his full transformation into a vampire like his father.
One night, I realized we we were two survivors unable to love each other, but couldn’t. Survival took most of our time, and the bond between us thinned with every passing wave rocking our boat of life in the Seven Seas.
That night was the first time I thought about having a child. Angel and I needed something we both cared about to keep our bond from fraying. And it was a strange thought. Because somehow I knew, deep inside my soul, that I will not only have one child. But two.
Something told me I will have two girls. Twins.


And here he is. . .
CAMERON JACE!!!




Cameron Jace is the bestselling author of the Grimm Diaries and Insanity series. A graduate of the college of Architecture, collector of out-of-print books, he is obsessed with the origins of folk tales and the mysterious storytellers who spread them. Three of his books made Amazon's Top 100 Customer Favorites in Kindle 2013 & Amazon's Top 100 kindle list. Cameron lives in California with his girlfriend. When he isn't writing or collecting books, he is playing music.
Sign up for his mailing list here: http://bit.ly/1sxp3p1






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Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Review: Tales from the Land of Forever by B.A. Keating


TALES FROM THE LAND OF FOREVER
by B.A. Keating
Middle Grade Fiction/ Fairy Tales
ages 8+
236 pages







Our magical adventure begins when Sarah George, an ordinary ten year old girl from an  ordinary borough of London, is forced to move to the Cornish countryside, after the sudden and unexpected death of her father, to live with her dreadful snob of an aunt and horrid cousin. 

Struggling to cope with this sudden upheaval, Sarah ventures out one night to the manor library, despite her Aunt Maude’s express instructions to never set foot in there again, and happens upon an ancient and intriguing children’s book. However, all is not what it seems, and upon opening this dusty, old tome, Sarah finds herself somehow magically transported to the far off and enchanted Land of Forever.

Upon her unexpected arrival in this fantastical realm, Sarah is fortunate enough to befriend a wise old badger named Monty, and his increasingly moody sidekick, Fidget – a bad-tempered red weasel - and together they set off on an epic quest across this magical land to help Sarah find her way back to the Ordinary World and her family once more.
Our band of intrepid travelers, who are soon joined by a cheeky young leprechaun named Jack Flannigan, and Tiberius, a two ton fire dragon, encounter many pitfalls along the way in their desperate search for answers and the elusive Bookkeeper. They must battle the dark forces of the Silent Forest, escape the clutches of an evil banshee, and survive a brush with the deadly and sinister Watchers, before eventually reaching the Middle Lands and the spectacular golden palace of the Fairy Godfather, where the most powerful sorcerer in the land holds Sarah’s fate entirely in his hands.






MY TIDBITS


When I saw the cover, I was sure this was going to be an enjoyable read. And it was. Sarah is a sweet girl who is struggling to cope with the most horrid circumstances: loss of her father, leaving her home and landing in a place where love seems to be a distant memory. It's so easy to sympathize with Sarah, and when she finally happens across the other world, it was like a fresh breeze she desperately needed. I couldn't wait to explore the strange world with her.

One of the things which drew me in the most was the traditional fairy tale feeling to Sarah's adventures. The creatures are mystical and the land is magical--a wonderful setting for a child's imagination to take flight. Despite the dangers and troubles she runs across, there's always a sense of hope which keeps the plot from going too dark. This was something which I really appreciated and found very fitting for the intended audience. The basic messages of trust, friendship and perseverance flow throughout the story like a faint glow of sunshine even when Sarah and her friends faced tough and dangerous situations.

The world Sarah encounters is vibrant and curious, offering new surprises around every corner while keeping enough familiarity that young readers will have no trouble picturing the scenes around them. There was never a dull moment, but with all the fun and caring friends Sarah runs into, there's not much room for boredom. Of course, there's more than enough 'evil' creatures out there determined to keep the heroes on their toes. But each character, good or bad, had a distinct personality and spiced up the adventures in their own way.

The writing is very fitting for kids ages eight and up, although I'm not sure much older kids will enjoy it quite as much. Especially girls will enjoy following Sarah on her journey. The length of around 270 pages did make me wonder if this might be a bit heavy for more reluctant readers, but the chapters are carefully broken down in such a way that a reader can go through one bit at a time without feeling overwhelmed. I see this as a great bedtime read and can imagine that it would bring several nights of sweet dreams. 




And here she is. . .
B.A. KEATING!!!


B.A. (Beverley Anne) Keating has been an avid reader since the age of four.  Her love of fairytales, heart-pounding adventures, and magical flights of fancy led her to put pen to paper to create her own fantastical, page-turning tales for readers of all ages to enjoy and treasure.

Beverley was born in London, England but has lived and traveled all around the globe – always with a book firmly clasped in hand -  residing in both Portugal and New Zealand, before making her home in sunny California with her husband and five rescue kitties.  She trained as a classical ballet dancer for 15 years and attended a prestigious dance academy in London.  As well as a diploma in dance, Beverley also has a degree in English.

Aside from reading and writing fabulously entertaining stories for cool, fun kids, Beverley also loves animals, nature, watching movies, eating pizza (her favorite is cheese and onion), and Christmas.


You can follow her over at   www.bakeating.com 




Sunday, April 19, 2015

Beware the Little White Rabbit, an Alice in Wonderland inspired Anthology









Curiosity often leads to trouble...











Thirteen powerful voices in young adult fiction invite you to journey into startling new Wonderlands in this nod to the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s timeless character, ALICE. 

Mystery. Madness. Mayhem. Each story in this collection will intrigue, bewitch, and enchant. Through rich historicals, castles and keeps, wild wormholes, secret workshops, deadly plagues, and gritty urban explorations, we present new tales of Alice and her white rabbit. 

Whether an intrepid reporter, a would-be car thief, or the last human in a world ruled by machines, at the heart of each story Alice is a girl discovering who she really is in worlds that never fail to surprise.

What wonders await, oh curious reader? Leap down the rabbit hole and discover the truth...









Start your journey at. . .










MY TIDBITS


This is a must read for all fairy tale fans, who have dreamed of following Alice into the rabbit hole and seeing where it might lead them. There are thirteen stories, each introduced with a lovely picture and accompanied with cute little rabbits between scene changes. (Yes, I love tiny little extras like this.) The stories center around an 'Alice', a rabbit and a hole, but that's where the similarities end.

Although I honestly wondered if reading about the same main character again and again might grow repetitive, the authors take Alice through all sorts of fantastical worlds and times - from steampunk to rides into history - making each adventure new and exciting. The Alices not only had to face very different situations, but each has a distinct personality, making the characters fresh and different despite the shared name. I especially enjoyed how many of the authors incorporated the strange and often topsy-turvy feel that Wonderland and it's inhabitants always have into the plot and dialogue. It peppered the tales with a fun bit of insanity even when some of the plots drew into darker worlds.

Summed up, this is a delightful collection of very different stories, which are just the perfect length for taking quick trips with Alice down a huge variety of rabbit holes. And several of the stories had me going back to read them again. . .and probably again.




TRAILER









Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The Grimmtastic Girls by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

Book #1
The Grimmtastic Girls:
Cinderella Stays Late
by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams
Scholastic Inc.
March 25, 2014
Ages 8 to 12
192 Pages




Grimmtastic Girls: Cinderella Stays Late
The authors of the hit Goddess Girls series put a fun and girly twist on another super-popular theme: fairy tales! Once upon a time, in faraway Grimmlandia... A Grimmtastic girl named Cinderella is starting her first week at Grimm Academy on the wrong foot. Cinda's totally evil stepsisters are out to make her life miserable. The Steps tease Cinda, give her terrible advice about life at the academy, and even make her look bad in front of her new friends, Red, Snow, and Rapunzel! But when Cinda overhears the Steps plotting a villainous deed that could ruin Prince Awesome's ball, Cinda, her new friends, and a pair of magical glass slippers have to stop them--before the last stroke of midnight!


  AmazonGoodreads   





Book #2:
Red Riding Hood Gets Lost
by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams
Scholastic Inc.
March 25, 2014
Ages 8 to 12
192 Pages




Red Riding Hood Gets Lost
Red Riding Hood might have a terrible sense of direction, but her grimmtastic friends are always there to help! Once upon a time, in faraway Grimmlandia... Red Riding Hood is thrilled to try out for the school play. Acting is her dream, and she's great at it--too bad she has stage fright! After a grimmiserable audition, Red decides to focus on helping her friends Cinda, Snow, and Rapunzel save Grimm Academy from the E.V.I.L. Society. But when Red gets lost in Neverwood forest and runs into Wolfgang, who might be part of E.V.I.L., she needs her magic basket and a grimmazingly dramatic performance to figure out what's going on!

  AmazonGoodreads    




And here they are. . .

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams!!!


Joan Holub



Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated more than 130 children's books, including Little Red Writing (illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet) and Zero the Hero. She lives in NC and is online at www.joanholub.com

Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

   

Suzanne Williams



Suzanne Williams is the author of nearly 50 books for children, including the award-winning picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg). She lives near Seattle, WA and is online at www.suzanne-williams.com

Author Blog | Goodreads





   Co-authors Joan and Suzanne have written the Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, and Grimmtastic Girls series. Though they live in different states and hardly ever get to see each other, they spend lots of time together in Grimmlandia.


Facebook (Grimmtastic Girls) | Facebook (Goddess Girls Books)

Online Author Visits

 

$50 Book Blast Giveaway

Amazon $50 Gift Card Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest ends: April 23, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the authors, Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com. a Rafflecopter giveaway MDBR Book Promotion Services

Monday, August 26, 2013

The Frost Series by Liz DeJesus and Giveaway


FIRST FROST
The Frost Series Book #1
by Liz DeJesus
Musa Publishing
YA Fantasy
233 pages






Fairytales aren’t real…yeah…that’s exactly what Bianca thought. She was wrong.

For generations, the Frost family has run the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts, handing down guardianship from mother to daughter, always keeping their secrets to “family only.”

Gathered within museum’s walls is a collection dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales and to the rare items the family has acquired: Cinderella’s glass slipper, Snow White’s poisoned apple, the evil queen’s magic mirror, Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted spinning wheel…

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Frost wants none of it, dreaming instead of a career in art or photography or…well, anything except working in the family’s museum. She knows the items in the glass display cases are fakes because, of course, magic doesn’t really exist.

She’s about to find out how wrong she is.



My Tidbits

I love fairy tales, so I was more than excited to get my hands on this book. I wasn't disappointed.

The first chapters started slow (a little too much backstory), but once the evil witch showed up, there was no stopping this plot. Bianca is pulled into an action packed adventure, a sweet romance and a world, which I myself wouldn't mind diving into. The seventeen-year-old starts out as a fairly quiet girl, who has a great relationship with her mother. But during the story, she learns to go beyond herself and gains a good amount of self-confidence. Yep, great character development.

I loved a integration of the old fairy tales, especially since these weren't based on the Disney versions, but on the real, sinister, not always happy original ones. A special treat was the Prince of Everafter - the charming, heroic prince, who wasn't as heroic (but still charming!) and clever as one might think.

I'd definitely recommend this one for you fairy tale fans out there. The writing is a tiny bit rough at times, but the plot definitely makes up for it. I enjoyed it and couldn't put it down.

I give this a:




CC


Where can you find it?




GLASS FROST
The Frost Series Book #2
by Liz DeJesus
Musa Publishing
YA Fantasy
260 pages




When joined together, Cinderella's slippers grant the wearer her heart's desire. But whose wish will be granted?

When Cinderella’s glass slipper is stolen, Queen Felicia sends her faithful steward Terrance to the real world to retrieve his love and witch-in-training, Bianca Frost. The power of the glass slipper, when paired with its mate, and in the wrong hands, could ruin the peace of Everafter. Bianca must gather every bit of magic she has learned in the past few weeks to find the slipper and protect her new love. Together, Bianca, Ming, Prince Ferdinand, and Terrance venture deep into the heart of Everafter to seek clues as to who has stolen the slipper and why. Along the way, they uncover what happened to the Seven Dwarves after Snow White married the prince, but also learn the awful risk of tampering with black magic and the high price that must be paid for magic, even when used for good.

Bianca and Terrance’s relationship is put to the test. Through the pain of suffering and loss, Bianca must determine if following her gallant boyfriend into his faraway world is in fact her heart's desire.



My Tidbits



I don't know about you, but often times, I'm disappointed with sequels. After the 1st book, there are expectations and, unfortunately, these are hard to meet. But for Liz DeJesus, this was no problem. I devoured this book.

GLASS FROST takes off where FIRST FROST ends and dives into the adventure without the need for any extra backstory. The bad part is that without reading the 1st book, the reader will be lost - but is that bad when both books are fun??? 

Like before, I wanted to dive into Liz's world and never come back. Especially when Bianca met up with her great-great-great Grandmother's 7 (well, now 3) dwarfs. It was a magical moment and very well done. The evil witch problem was very unlike the first book, which made the adventure fun to read and not like a regurgitation. 

Again, I can only say 'read it'. 


I give this one a big, fat:




CC



Where can you find it?





Character Bio

Bianca Frost: 
She’s a seventeen year old girl that works at the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts with her mother Rose Frost. She recently found out that she’s the great-great-great granddaughter of Snow White. Her favorite color is dark purple, she loves punk rock and indie music. Her favorite book is Jane Eyre and she loves to draw. She hopes to go to college and become an art major. Her best friend is Ming Lee and the love of her life is Terrance Connor.



Ming Lee
She’s seventeen years old and her best friend in the whole wide world is Bianca Frost. Her father is a surgeon and her mother, Mrs..Lee is a stay  at home mom. Ming loves pop music and her favorite color is pink (every single shade of pink is her favorite). She’s an accomplished singer and loves to play the piano in her spare time. Her dream is to become a famous singer. She has a bit of a crush on Prince Ferdinand and she’s trying to figure out how she really feels about him.



Terrance Connor
He is eighteen years old and is a steward for the royal family in Everafter. He’s often quiet and reserved but once you get to know him you will discover that he’s very intelligent and charming. His parents are William and Claire Connor. His grandfather is Magnus Connor aka The Big Bad Wolf. Trust me, this makes for a very complicated family dynamic. He has a great love for Bianca Frost, who he believes is his soul mate.



Prince Ferdinand
His full name is Prince Ferdinand Anthony Charles
Ash and he is the future king of Everafter. He is a kind and charming prince who is in the constant search for damsels in distress, adventure and true love. Sometimes he comes across a bit silly and goofy but his heart is true and pure. He has grown and matured since  his first adventure in First Frost but he’s still light hearted and fun no matter what situation he’s in. He’s madly in love with Ming Lee.


Rose Frost: She is Bianca’s mother and the owner of the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts. Rose has been hiding the fact that she and Bianca are witches. Rose’s main magical talents are healing and plant related. She can grow any type of plant under any conditions. She is extremely protective over her daughter Bianca and anyone she holds close to her heart.


And here she is:
Liz DeJesus!!!



Liz DeJesus was born on the tiny island of Puerto Rico. She is a novelist and a poet. She has been writing for as long as she was capable of holding a pen. She is the author of the novel Nina (Blu Phi'er Publishing, October 2007), The Jackets (Arte Publico Press, March 31st 2011) First Frost (Musa Publishing, June 22nd 2012) and Glass Frost (Musa Publishing, COMING SOON).
She is also a member of The Written Remains Writers Guild http://www.writtenremains.org/.
Liz is currently working on a new novel.

And you can find her:





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